Thursday, August 30, 2012

Tolerant, Open Minded Liberals

If you ask a Conservative what they believe in you will get a variety of answers. Pick a few major points from fiscal conservatism, social warriors, self reliance, small government and whatever the hell Ron Paul supporters say. Maybe say something that how the government does nothing well or without corruption, inefficiency or graft and thus should any expansion beyond protecting our God-given rights, national defense and a social safety net should be approached with caution. That no matter how many Ivy League degrees they stack in Washington a centrally planned economy is doomed to failure.

If you ask a liberal, in my experience, you typically get a blend between some sort of social justice mantra and a purported devotion to pragmatism. That they lack ideology and are dedicated to results. They are uncomfortable with the idea of American Exceptionalism and the moral relativism with which they regard the viewpoints of other cultures is pervasive. Who are we to say anything about genital mutilation or the stoning of gays in the Middle East, the bananas thrown at Black soccer players in Europe or the organ harvesting from the Falun Gong in China? Their culture, their viewpoints should not be condemned by our narrow, Western, Judeo-Christian morals.

I am left to wonder why people who profess to be so open minded, even handed, scientific and pragmatic in their methods react in such a viscerally nasty way to people that have a different view of the government's role in society and life.

3 Personal examples, quotes from people who I consider smart who happen to be liberal. Note the tolerance of people with different points of view and the open minded nature.

"I do not know why people are not making a bigger deal of how weird it is that Romney is a Mormon"

"Looking at the RNC you would think that the only ingredient in the American Melting Pot is milk....." followed by referring to Mia Love as a "token" African American.

Why not just go ahead and call her an Uncle Tom? This is even from someone who called me all excited when Ryan was nominated because it was going to be an election of ideas and he thought the Democrats had the high ground there. I guess he took a dump on the high ground.

and this, in a twitter conversation re: fiscal policy and spending (yes I am an idiot for trying to have any substantive conversation on twitter, thank you)

So conservatives who want to cut spending because we understand math just do not want to help the undeserving poor/other. Because we hate them. QED

I understand they disagree with me, well within their rights. Why do conservatives who think the spending trajectory of Illinois, California, Greece, Spain and drunken syphilitic sailors in general is not sustainable because of Math get accused of being Klan members?

To be clear, I have had long discussions about politics, economics, soccer and women with one or all of these three people at various points I disagree with them on almost everything, but I think they are smart, and I do not think any of them are evil or hateful, I merely think they are wrong. This is not like being lectured by a 22 year old socialist who lives off of his wealthy mom, they are well read and educated, I just have fundamental disagreements with them in the way to solve the problems that face our country.

The fact that I and people who believe as I do are immediately labelled as racist is, pardon my french, fucking bullshit. This is MSNBC schlock rivaling Chris Matthews, Rachel Maddow or Martin Bashir, when presented with facts and evidence that rupture his precious, fragile world view he only has two responses, first is Blaming Bush and second is declaring anyone who says that his Emperor has No Clothes is a filthy, hateful racist. We did not have the money to pay for our entitlements before Obama added another massive one. Saying we cannot spend like this is as racist and intolerant as saying "When this plane runs out of gas, it will crash into the ground in a fiery inferno."

Honestly, I am excited about this election. I think that people get the government they deserve. I can understand people voting for Obama after the Bush years and liking everything he represented but he has been an embarrassment. With the VP pick, we are going to get an election of ideas. I love that Paul Ryan is one of the only politicians on either side of the aisle that talks to voters like adults about the debt and entitlement issues that we face. You can disagree with his methods, I am not enamored with every facet of his plan, but he earnestly is trying to solve the problem. I love the fact that Obama sends tax cheat Geithner to actually say this out loud and on the record: